Generally, there are two types of baking molds structured to produce individual-sized baked goods. First, there are disposable, paper and aluminum foil baking molds that are structured to contain a quantity of batter and which are supported by a separate rigid mold, e.g. cupcake liners disposed in a muffin pan. Generally, these molds have a fluted, cylindrical or conical shape. When made from aluminum foil, such baking cups may be self-supporting and be used without a muffin pan. Second, there are rigid shaped molds for one or more baked goods, generically referred to herein as a “muffin pan,” into which batter is poured and baked. The muffin pan may include indentations having fanciful shapes and relief images. Each of these types of baking molds have advantages and disadvantages.
Cupcake liners, for example, provide a barrier between the batter and the supporting muffin pan. Thus, cleaning the muffin pan is typically very easy. Cupcake liners are also inexpensive. A cupcake liner also protects the baked product after cooking is complete. Thus, a person may handle the baked product while touching the cupcake liner and not having to touch the edible product. Another advantage of a cupcake liner is that the liner may, typically, be easily peeled away from the finished baked good.
Cupcake liners are, however, limited to a generally cylindrical or conical shape and have fluted sidewalls. The fluted sidewall is required due to the method of manufacturing cupcake liners. That is, cupcake liners are typically stamped from a sheet of material or, more typically, multiple liners are stamped from multiple sheets at one time using a single punch/die. The sheet of material is typically circular. The punch and die, typically, have a generally flat bottom and a tapered cylindrical shape. The punch has a smaller diameter than the circular sheets of material. As the punch initially engages the sheet of material, the sheet is bent about the bottom of the punch and a sidewall is formed. As the die continues to engage the sheet of material, pressing the material into the die, the sidewall is turned to be about eighty degrees from the plane of the bottom surface. Because the sheet of material has a greater area while flat than in the tapered cylindrical shape, the punch and die have to be shaped to accommodate the additional area of material. One method of accommodating the extra material was to have portions of the sidewall folded over each other in the final shape. These folds on the mold, however, were deep and generally created a noticeable mark, or crease, on a product baked therein. The more common method of accommodating the extra material, however, was to provide a fluted sidewall on the punch and die. As the sheet(s) of material is pressed in the fluted die, the extra material is formed into a fluted sidewall having the same area as the sheet of material but with a much smaller diameter. Thus, a typical cupcake liner cannot have a generally smooth sidewall.
Another disadvantage to using cupcake liners is that the supporting muffin pan has a specific number of cavities, typically six or twelve. Therefore, if a baker made more batter than required to fill a typical muffin pan, e.g. enough batter for thirteen cupcakes, the baker would need to employ a partially filled muffin pan to use up the remaining batter or discard the extra batter. Also, the paper that forms the liner cannot support the batter unless a muffin pan of the same general shape is used. There are some specialty molds made from a corrugated paper which are akin to metal molds, but these molds are much larger than a typical cupcake mold.
Shaped muffin pans, on the other hand, are much more expensive than cupcake liners. While such muffin pans may be reused many times, there is often no need, or a very limited need, to reuse such pans, i.e. a mold having a shape relevant to a singular event such as a specific anniversary or birthday. Additionally, muffin pans that may be reused, such as annual holiday muffin pans, require storage space while only being used a limited number of times per year. Similar to cupcake liners which are used in muffin pans, a muffin pan can only hold a limited amount of batter. Thus, if a baker makes too much batter, the batter must be discarded or baked in a different muffin pan. Unlike cupcake liners, however, a muffin pan is substantially rigid and cannot be peeled away from the baked good. That is, if the baked good adheres to the muffin pan, the baked good is often damaged while being removed from the muffin pan.
Accordingly, there is a need for an inexpensive, self-supporting shaped baking mold. There is a further need for such a self-supporting shaped baking mold to be disposable. There is a further need for such a self-supporting shaped baking mold to be easily removed from the finished baked good. There is a further need for a method of manufacturing such a self-supporting shaped baking mold that is both inexpensive and easy to perform.